The Wake-Up Call: Mike Gesell on fire, Iowa-Minnesota talk heats up, and more

The best way to start your day is right here at Landof10.com as we prepare you for everything you need to know about Iowa sports. We’ll share our Hawkeyes Wake-Up Call here with you at 8:30 a.m. (ET) Monday through Friday.

So let’s get to it. Here is your Wake-Up Call for Friday, Oct. 7.

Are you ready for some basketball?

The Iowa basketball season is yet to tip off, but that’s not the case for former Iowa guard Mike Gesell, who is off to a strong start in Europe.

Former Hawkeye Mike Gesell had a great debut for the @bakkenbears, posting 16 points, 8 assists, and 4 steals in 23 min in a win. #Hawkeyes

Bakken is a team in the Danish League (based in Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark). Gesell is the starting point guard while fellow American Dwayne Benjamin, who averaged 8.1 points and 4.3 rebounds over two seasons at Oregon, is the small forward. To follow Gesell and Bakken bookmark this page.

Also, former Hawkeye Jarrod Uthoff is in camp with the Toronto Raptors, though he has yet to play in the three preseason games for Toronto.

Staying put

Former Iowa players got into the Iowa-Minnesota rivalry this week. First up was Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga.

The Hawkeyes and Gophers battle for that famous pig Saturday at noon ET.

Heading out east

The Big Ten announced the players that will be attending the league-wide men’s basketball media day on Oct. 13 in Washington D.C. Iowa seniors Peter Jok and Dale Jones will be in attendance.

Jok is no surprise. He’s the best returning Hawkeye and the only returning starter. He needs to be there. Jones is a sixth-year senior returning from a knee injury. The coaching staff is high on him. Attending media day is a nice honor/reward for him after his rehab.

How many players?

Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery was adamant during his team’s media day Wednesday that he would go deep into his bench.

“That’s safe to say (there will be at least 10),” McCaffery said. “It’s hard to go 11, 12. Ten, nine, eight, is a lot easier., but it may be hard to cut it off there with this group, because we have so many guys that they all at least do one or two things really well that we’ll want to get in there.”

It’s probably best for fans to take a wait-and-see approach with the depth. This is the kind of comment coaches love to make in October. It’s said so often across the country it seems like it’s a requirement to coach at the Division I level. Coaches want to spread out minutes. They want to keep players fresh.

Then the regular season starts. Some players fall out of favor. Others show they deserve more minutes. A few are good enough they should rarely come off the court. All of a sudden that double-digit bench becomes an eight-man rotation in tight ball games or on the road.

The Hawkeyes have options. That’s good. They may end up being one of the rare teams that rolls out a 10-player rotation, but it’s something the Wake-Up Call will need to witness before believing.